Indian team leader Rohit Sharma dismissed worries about their performance against spin bowling after losing two matches in a row to Sri Lanka on August 7 at the R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. India couldn’t reach their target for the third game in a row, getting all out for 138 while trying to chase 249.
This led to Sri Lanka winning the third One Day International by 110 runs and securing their first series victory over India since 1997. Even though India experienced an unusual series defeat against Sri Lanka, Rohit Sharma believes that dealing with spin is not an issue for the team and also said there is no sense of overconfidence within the team.
“I don’t believe it’s a big worry. However, we need to consider it both individually and as part of our strategy. It’s funny to suggest that there might be a lack of effort when playing for India. As the captain, I can assure you there’s no chance of that. But we must acknowledge good cricket when we see it. Sri Lanka outplayed us. We analyzed the conditions and chose our team lineup, but there are also some players who need attention, so we made changes,” Rohit Sharma explained during the post-match interview.
Continuing, Rohit mentioned that occasional series losses can occur, and the team must recover after such setbacks.
“There are many areas we need to improve, not just focus on the positives. Losing a series isn’t the end of the world; it happens from time to time. What’s important is how we respond after a loss,” Rohit added during the post-match interview.
In the recent series, India lost 27 wickets to spin bowling, which is the most any team has lost in a three-match series. Jeffrey Vandersay took 8 wickets, Dunit Wellalage took 7 wickets, and Charisth Asalanka took 6 wickets, making them the top wicket-takers for Sri Lanka. Indian batters struggled to handle their bowling. Following this series loss, India’s next matches will be against Bangladesh, starting on September 19th, with two Test matches and three T20 games.
